Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Summer Storm
9:24 AM
This morning we were awakened to a fierce thunderstorm that wreaked havoc on the course. We received 2.25" of rain in under 30 minutes. Pretty much every bunker, cart path and landscape bed washed out. We will work hard to put all the pieces back together. One impressive feat of this storm was the pond on #8. Yesterday it was almost dry and today it was full 100% and running though the discharge pipes. Below are a few pictures of the aftermath. 
Friday, August 10, 2012
Summer 2012
6:33 AM
Summer 2012 is on target to be the warmest ever in the Northeast. Our greens at Richter came through June and July with flying colors, the 1st week in August they started needing more TLC to make it through the final stretch. The stress on the greens is in direct relation to the intensity and duration of the heat we are experiencing this summer, along with limited air movement. The past week we have had zero air movement, 100% humidity and high temperatures. These three combinations are bad for turf that has exhausted all carbohydrates, have shallow roots and are screaming for cooler soil temperatures. 
We are doing everything possible to keep everything going in the right direction. This week we performed some maintenance on most of our playing surfaces. Upon first glimpse it would appear that the we are rewinding back to 2011 on holes 6 and 7, this could be no further from the truth. We did indeed verticut and aerify this week and while we experienced some leaf bruising and thinning it is not critical in any way. The sand that is on the surface is there to protect the crown and encourage recovery in the form of upright growth. Initially I was hoping for the storms and cooler temps today, that is not going to happen and will delay recovery for a few more days. Brown is not bad, we have rolled the greens and it will not affect ball roll.
That last sentence is so very important. We have created a culture where brown is bad, when actually it is good. In the future you will hear more about conservation and sustainability. My long term goal is a conversion to 100% bent grass, losing some turf along the way (POA) is actually a good thing. We will manage to keep everything aesthetically pleasing, but if the opportunity presents itself to build our bent populations I am going to pounce. |
| Root Depth #6 |
Thursday, August 9, 2012
Summer Management
9:33 AM
The season has been a polar opposite of last year and all signs are to finishing strong. This week I decided to Aerify 6, 7 and 14 greens. The reason was the constant stress we introduced to the new creeping bentgrass was starting to become more visual and with the focus on long term health we decided to give them a kick start. You might ask why in the world would we take a perfectly looking green, beat it up and make it look like it went through a 12 round heavyweight fight? The answer is relatively simple, to make it better in the long term. Creeping Bentgrass is about to enter its ideal growing season and performing cultural activities now allows for better performance in the future. 
This season has been ideal for golf but the turf is hanging on by a thread. Poa is one mistake away from death and the bent was getting leggy and puffy. Performing cultural activities such as verticutting, aerifying and grooming must be performed to allow us to manage for the future. This most recent practice should be healed in a few days, though mother nature plays the biggest role in speeding up the process. The days are getting shorter and nights at some point in time should get cooler, all awesome ingredients to experience a little breather and set our sights on the finish line. This season has been far from a sprint and is beginning to look like an ultra triathlon. We started on March 14th and all signs indicate to a great fall. Thanks for your patience as we continue trying to keep Richter as your place to call home.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
